What Do I Do Here?

Biospheres at CytoLuminescent is primarily a community dedicated to educating and inspiring people about the living world and how people can save lives both human and non-human. This is what we mean when we say our mission is to help people connect with life on Earth.

It does not matter if you are a lawyer, a doctor, a teacher, a college student, a journalist, or just some random joe off the street; your contributions are invaluable. Become a member; join the community and help advance the mission.

Becoming a Member

While blog posts are visible to the public, becoming a member is crucial if you want to engage with the community. Creating an account is easy. First, click on the Log In or Sign Up button on the top left of the page. A form will pop up; fill in the form with a username, an email, and a password. Agree to the Terms of Use and submit - and you're ready to go!

Speaking of Terms of Use, the Terms are what you'd expect. We also have a Privacy Policy if you want to know what information we collect and how we use it. I advise you read the Terms before signing up. If you don't want to slog through a bunch of legal jargon, you can read a Summary of the Terms.

On your account menu, you'll find options for many of the activities described below. You'll also find links to see who's following you, who you're following, receive notifications about responses to your blog posts, and like blog posts.

There is so much you can do once you're a member. Read on to find out the many ways you can contribute to the mission.

The Blog

If it lives, it's fair game for blog topics. Posts may cover content from ecology, paleontology, molecular biology, medicine, and all fields that study and engage with the living world. As a member, you can publish your own posts and comment on posts by others. In posts, you can tell real or fictional stories, share your own research, advertise your own life-saving campaigns, or educate about the wonders of life. The posts are organized into four categories: Research & Education, Inspiration, Creation, and General.

Research & Education - If you're curious about the natural world and want to learn all about it, or if you have your own research or knowledge to share, then visit this category. Posts in this category are mainly informational, with the intent of educating about nature and biology in a school-like but interesting, engaging, and easy-to-understand way. Posts may cover general knowledge like that which you might learn in school, discuss knowledge and research from other sources, reveal the latest discoveries, and present research done by site members, for a few examples. Posts may often include links to sources, resources for further learning, and documents. Since we're passionate about the biosphere's well-being and our responsibility as its organisms to protect it, as well as human life, some posts in this category may also focus on the latest conservation and medical efforts and link to places where you can help save the lives of all kinds of species, although the majority of these kinds of topics will be in Creation (see below).

Inspiration - Posts in this category are meant to help you see the natural world the way we see it here at CytoLuminescent - as a source of beauty, inspiration, health, peace, and as an organism of its own that we are deeply connected with in the way cells are connected with the body through other cells. In other words, these posts (hopefully) are meant to inspire a love for nature and biology that I hope you will spread to others. As far as topics covered, posts in Inspiration may cover just about anything, as long as it has something to do with living things. Content may include games, videos, art, photography, links to other fun sources, and anything that appeals to the senses and stirs the emotions. Some posts may also be informational, but not in the same way as the posts in the Research & Education category - for example, an Inspiration post may list the top ten national parks in the United States, why you should visit them, and what you can do there; whereas the Research & Education counterpart may select one of those parks and go into detail about the functioning of its ecosystem, or perhaps present facts about the animals that call it home.

Creation - Finally, there's this oddly named category. Posts in this category are nothing more than ways you can take what you learn from others and help contribute to the flourishing of life on Earth. They're meant to raise awareness and provide tips on how you can make a difference. They may link to organizations where you can make a difference, as well as possibly offer chances to donate directly through us. You're probably thinking, "yeah, so it's about environmental conservation", but these posts go beyond climate change and carbon footprints. See, we're not just general environmentalists. We believe in the sacredness of life, and we focus on the reason for environmentalism, which is to ensure the flourishing of living organisms on Earth, including humans. After all, that's why the planet exists, for us and all the beings we coexist with. By knowing why you should care about all this environmental talk, you'll more likely engage with its true purpose. But since we're focused more on life itself rather than the environment in general, some of the topics you might see in this category may be unexpected. They range everywhere from reducing pollution to endangered species to medicine to educating others about life to pets to your backyard garden and so much more. There's a lot, because life is everywhere.

General - General posts are in this category because they cannot be properly classified into one of the others. These posts will usually cover general information about the website or business, like this one.

The Forum

The forum is called The Wild for a reason. Here, you and other members can get together and share knowledge and ideas and discuss all things alive. You can have simple conversations, ask questions, and share any kind of written content.

The forum has two categories: Earth Biology and Alien Biology. If what you'd like to discuss concerns anything related to our planet's real biosphere, it goes in Earth Biology. If your ideas involve anything related to mythical or alien biology (in other words, biospheres that aren't real), then post them in Alien Biology. Other than that, the forum functions pretty much like you'd expect a forum to. You can find an official introduction to the forum in the forum itself.

The Shared Gallery & Communities

The Gallery is primarily for showcasing visual media. Here, you can post your own creative works, including photos, art, and videos, as well as view the works of others.

The Communities function much like the website itself, but on a smaller, more focused scale. Instead of covering all fields concerning life, each one is specific to certain field or topic - for example, pre-Mesozoic wildlife or rainforest conservation efforts. In these communities, members can share all sorts of content, both written and visual.

Conclusion

If you want to know who I am, who we, CytoLuminescent, are, and how all this came to be, check out our About page. If you have questions, comments, concerns, or anything you think we should know about, you can reach us at our Contact Us page or email us at cytoluminescent@outlook.com.

Below is a summary of the parts of the website and what you can do:

• Forum - participate in discussions, ask questions, share stories, and participate in other written activities

• Shared Gallery - post and share art, photos, and videos

• Communities - engage with others and share content of all kinds relating to specific topics in biology and other sciences that study the living world

• Blog - for ideas too big and complex to fit in any of the other sections

• About & Terms and Privacy - learn about who we are, the rules for using the site, and how your information is used

We can't wait to find out what you have to bring to the nest (er, table). Who knows how many lives you'll inspire? We all have a little light to give to the world. Because after all, some cells give light. So can you.